Deluxe tent camping at Sequoia High Sierra Camp in Kings Canyon National Park outside Fresno. Photo courtesy of glampinghub.com.
Have you imagined waking up to chirping birds outside your private tree house in Mt. Rainier National Park, Wash., or sipping coffee over views from your deluxe camping tent in Shaba National Reserve, Kenya? The University of San Francisco’s David Troya ’11 has your fix: “glamping,” or glamour camping.
Only weeks after
graduating, Troya, an MBA graduate, made a splash in international travel
circles tapping into the upscale camping market with his website glampinghub.com. The site has been featured in USA Today, MSNBC.com,
and The Huffington Post.
The website has received more than 100,000 page views since May, Troya said.
Glampers enjoy overnight
stays in light structures – yurts or teepees or even gypsy caravans – located
in unspoiled landscapes to create luxury accommodations that are also
environmentally friendly. With two-dozen options already available in Africa,
the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe, campers can enjoy a safari in South
Africa or olive groves in Spain – with more sites to come.
“My background is in
travel/hospitality, arguably the largest business sector in the world,” Troya
said. “It’s exciting for me to be involved in a truly innovative service, with
an innovative means of information delivery.”
Troya credits Carlos
Baradello, associate dean for the School of Management’s international and
executive programs, and his course Global Product Development as a key
inspiration.
Fellow USF MBA alum Abby
Jeffords ’11 and dual degree MBA and law student Jacob Gelfand have joined
Troya as partners to flesh out the website. “Today we are at the top of the
Google list for glamping, and we have 150 news hits a day,” Troya said.
